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Saturday, April 7, 2012

RECAP: Beating The Baie. Dogs Win 9-3.

SAINT JOHN – For part of this game, the Baie-Comeau
Drakkar looked like the team that swept the Victoriaville Tigres in the first
round. Then at other parts, they looked the 13th seed.

The Saint John Sea Dogs exploded yet again in the second
en route to a 9-3 victory over the Drakkar on Friday night at Harbour Station.
The win gives the Sea Dogs a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven
quarter-final playoff series.

The Drakkar looked quite good in the first half of the game
and managed to keep up with Saint John. But Stephen MacAulay’s pair of goals in
the second period which came 33 seconds apart to give the Dogs a 4-2 seemed to
be the backbreaker for Baie-Comeau. Saint John went on to score two more times
in the frame to lead 6-2 after 40 minutes.

Zack Phillips and Stephen MacAulay each had a pair of
goals while singles came from Charlie Coyle, Tomas Jurco, Danick Gauthier, Ryan
Tesink and Stanislav Galiev. Coyle, Phillips, Tesink, Charles Roussel and
Galiev all had two assists each.

Mathieu Corbeil had a strong performance in net, making
several fine saves at key moments. Saint John seemed a bit sluggish coming out
of the gate but Corbeil held the fort. The 20-year made 20 saves for the win.

Baie-Comeau, who suffered their first loss of the
playoffs, had two goals from Carl Gelinas and a single from Lukas Cingel. Tomas
Filippi and Sam Carrier both added two assists.

Rookie backstop Philippe Cadorette allowed eight goals on
27 shots before getting the hook in the third period. He was replaced Jimmy
Appleby who made four saves in relief.

Coyle scored the only goal in the first period. At 17:49 on a power play, Coyle jammed the puck up and over Cadorette’s pad to give the
Dogs a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Baie-Comeau tied it up on a power play of their own at
4:04. But the tie game was short lived as Tomas Jurco threw the puck in front
and off a Drakkar player and in to give the Dogs a 2-1 advantage. The play
would be reviewed but the goal would stand. Then with Jurco in the box and the Drakkar on a 4-on-3 advantage, Baie-Comeau
quickly tied it up at 6:31 as Gelinas netted his second of the period.

But then MacAulay went into beast mode. At 11:16 following
a faceoff win, the St. Louis Blues prospect ripped the puck top shelf to put
the Dogs back in front. 33 seconds later, MacAulay gave Saint John a 4-2 lead.

After Jonathan Lessard headed to the box for elbowing
Jonathan Huberdeau – who went pointless, by the way – in the face, Phillips
gave Saint John some breathing room with his third of the playoffs at 14:41.

Jean-Phillipe Caron nearly got the Drakkar back in the
game moments later as he hit the post and was then robbed by Corbeil on his
one-timer chance.

Galiev rounded out the second period scoring at 18:46 to
make it 6-2 Saint John after 40 minutes. Shots in the middle stanza were 16-8
Sea Dogs.

Gauthier, Phillips, and Tesink all scored within a 4:07
span to give the Dogs a 9-2 lead in the third. Cingel scored some goal at 11:25 but it
wouldn’t matter. The Drakkar were getting frustrated in the final frame and
were starting to take some dumb penalties.

There was plenty of rough stuff in this game which will
set the tone for the rest of the series. Ian Saab returns from suspension
tomorrow night. That should be interesting.

Overall shots on goal were 32-23 in favour of Saint John.
The Dogs went 3-for-7 on the power play while Baie-Comeau went 2-for-3.

NOTES: See Sea Dogs Postscript tomorrow on SN.

NEXT GAME: Gam 2 of the best-of-seven quarter-final
playoff series goes tomorrow night at 7pm at Harbour Station.